Crest Hill man is charged with killing his wife

Woman was run over with a car, authorities say

Two men were wounded in a shooting last week outside the Brunswick Zone bowling alley at 735 N. Center Blvd. in Romeoville, police said. (Ryan Haggerty, Chicago Tribune)

A Crest Hill man was charged Monday with first-degree murder, accused of killing his wife by running over her with a car, authorities said.

Jerry M. Nichols, 62, called 911 about 11 a.m. Saturday and allegedly said he had accidentally run over his wife at their home in the 16000 block of Arborvitae Circle, Crest Hill Police Chief Dwayne Wilkerson said Tuesday.

But when paramedics arrived at the home, they saw Nichols allegedly stomping on his wife's body, prosecutors said.

Diane Nichols, 57, was taken by ambulance to Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, where she was pronounced dead, Wilkerson said.

Jerry Nichols was charged in his wife's death after Crest Hill police and the Will County state's attorney's office developed evidence that he allegedly killed her intentionally, Wilkerson said. Wilkerson declined to discuss a possible motive for the killing.

Nichols appeared in Will County bond court Monday, where he was ordered held on $5 million bail, according to court records. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 19.

Neither Nichols nor his wife had a criminal record, and Crest Hill police had never had contact with them before, Wilkerson said.

In other crime news, Romeoville police are investigating a shooting outside a bowling alley last week that left two men wounded, police said.

The victims — an 18-year-old from Joliet and a 26-year-old from Lockport — were shot about 12:50 a.m. Jan. 22 while leaving the Brunswick Zone bowling alley at 735 N. Center Blvd., police said.

Both men were driven to Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet by other people before police arrived at the scene.

The 18-year-old was shot in the left arm and was released from the hospital a short time after the shooting, police said.

The 26-year-old was shot in the abdomen and admitted to the hospital, where he was listed in good condition, police said.

Police said a suspect or suspects in a dark vehicle that may have had four doors opened fire on a group of people as they left the bowling alley. Police did not have any additional descriptive information about the suspect or suspects or the vehicle.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Romeoville police at 815-886-7219.